Feeling worse before feeling better
It would be a lot easier if we were all like household appliances when things go wrong. You check your guarantee before calling out someone to repair the washing machine, and often get a replacement model if beyond repair.
Problem solved and that part of your life improves, or at least gets easier.
The thing is, human beings aren't appliances. Made up of blood, sweat, skin, tissue and bone, our physical ailments can usually be fixed with medical intervention, self-care and exercise. The process can be hard and long but is usually easy to see and rationalise. Though a complex thing, the human body can also be repaired (most of the time) and getting better and stronger is something that can be measured daily.
A broken bone, for example, will heal and the rehabilitation hopefully sees you return to full health.
As well as the skeletal system that houses the vital organs and veins, that is padded with flesh and covered with skin, what truly makes a human being is the mind. The epicentre of emotion, the architect of personality, the brain is one of the aforementioned organs that is encased in the skull, but its multiple purposes control and determine who we truly are as people. Our beliefs and interests, what drives and makes us happy, sad, angry, fulfilled; our mental health.
Not as easy to repair
I have nothing to hide or be ashamed of. Like anyone else, my mental health has its good days and its bad. Issues from my past, the struggles of everyday life have impacted on it. But, unlike putting a broken bone in plaster or a bandage on a wound, before letting time take care of the recovery, feeling well within myself has proved far trickier.
Those that know me, know someone who enjoys a chat as much as I enjoy putting words on a page. Professional therapy has been a great ally at certain times in my life, conversing with those who specialise in helping those struggling with all manner of emotional difficulties.
Only recently have I really thought about how discussing my troubles has actually made me feel worse.
Hang on a minute, I'm not discouraging people speaking out and seeking help, you absolutely should, but those feelings and problems that come out with talking them over, will evoke emotions that often lay you even lower, or make you angrier than you were before your session.
And that is part of the process.
Others suffered worse, but I had acne in my teens. Many a night I would apply a face mask for about 20 minutes before growing frustrated as my skin often seemed to look worse upon removal.
Of course, they were bringing out the impurities, it was looking worse before it got better. Like my insecurities and feelings that still bother me, they are being brought to the surface and I am confronting them while also learning how to deal with them.
My spots did clear up and my complexion improved, as I truly believe my mental health has. The thing is, the latter is a far more arduous, complex process, and one that can be a case of living with rather than getting rid of altogether.
And a bad day or low mood is not a setback, merely another part of the complicated journey I have to complete.
I still get the odd spot now and again, too.
None of us are perfect, we all have our struggles and flaws. Mental health issues do not discriminate, we are all vulnerable.
Your problems are relative to you and how you complete your journey is yours, and yours alone to determine.
Remember though, it is a far less straightforward process than putting a plaster on a cut.
This blog is dedicated to everyone on their journey, no matter where you currently are.
And special mention to Sam, a lady who defies the word courage.
